President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan, has said that no number of challenges should prevent Africa from going ahead with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as the deal is the only hope of reviving economies in the region.
She premised her comments on the fact that there is enormous opportunity for the continent to trade within itself, considering the low level of intra-Africa trade compared to other continents.
“AfCFTA is an opportunity for growth and prosperity for Africa because, as of today, Africa accounts for only 2 percent of global trade and only 7 percent of African exports are intra-continental. This is in comparison to 59 percent for Asia, and therefore we cannot afford to continue waiting until all bolts and nuts are fixed before we start trading. Some of the underpinning issues will be fixed on the way, and so we have to start trading now.
“The AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade area in terms of membership that creates a market of over 1.3 billion people. It presents an opportunity to accelerate intra-African trade and to use trade more effectively as an engine for growth and sustainable development,” she said when paying a visit to the AfCFTA secretariat on Wednesday in Accra.
The Tanzanian president further stated making the trade pact work effectively is crucial for Africa’s recovery from the deadly coronavirus pandemic which wreaked havoc on the global economy; adding that providing assistance for women-owned businesses will also be important for success of the AfCFTA.
“As countries are recovering from economic shocks resulting from COVID-19, implementation of the AfCFTA will hasten a quick economic recovery. Tanzania is committed to the unity of Africa, and since AfCFTA is a stepping stone to achieve African unity through trading and industrial development, we remain committed to the process.
“Women entrepreneurs and women businesses are likely to miss out on opportunities of the AfCFTA if no deliberate measures are taken to address their challenges. This is because most of their businesses are small, informal and have low productivity. It is my sincere hope that the AfCFTA protocol on women in trade will address such challenges,” she said.
Secretary General of the AfCFTA Secretariat, Wamkele Mene, also reiterated that impacts from the Russia-Ukraine war on food security of the continent gives added reason why implementation of the trade deal must be accelerated.
“What we have learned from the ongoing crisis between Ukraine and Russia is that it has exposed Africa’s weaknesses; it has exposed the fact that Africa has to accelerate the establishment of continental agricultural value chains to enhance food security in Africa and ensure Africa’s self-sufficiency. The AfCFTA is a platform that can enable our continent to achieve this objective.
“Over the past few months, the conflict in Ukraine has severely disrupted the supply of essential crops to Africa and led to significant food price increases in the area of agriculture. Most imports from Russia and Ukraine are agriculture products… All of this indicates that Africa has got to accelerate implementation of AfCFTA, and Africa has got to accelerate the implementation of regional value chains which will ensure food security by trading in agriculture products under preferences of the AfCFTA,” he said.
He further stated that the secretariat has identified four priority areas where the trade pact is going to extend focus in order to industrialise the continent and create more jobs for the youth. In this regard, he said, the AfDB has made available US$1billion to be deployed to all member-countries to boost firms’ capacity.
“The AfCFTA has identified four priority value chains – agro processing, the automotive sector, pharmaceuticals and transport and logistics. All of these are priority value chains which we believe will accelerate implementation of the AfCFTA, industrialisation on our continent, and create jobs for young Africans and small, medium enterprises that are led by women.
We have successfully mobilised investments of US$1billion from the AfriExim Bank, which will be deployed to ensure that all countries are part of Africa’s development efforts – particularly in the area of the automotive sector,” he said.